Paula lives in central Vienna, loves to ride her bike and truly enjoys publishing her photos on this blog. So this is Paula's Diary. A blog, rather than facebook.

Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Heritage: Protestant

In Austria Protestants form a minority. The influence of the Catholic church shows in many ways. In architecture for example.

Today I entered a building from 1920 and noticed the calm atmosphere. It is different to many other buildings from that epoche in Vienna.

I googled the architect. Mr Sommerlatte. A quite peculiar name. His parents were Protestants.

My grandfather was Protestant. I have to go back to his youth to find a family member who shared my passion for hiking and ski mountaineering. I grew up in a couch potatoe environment. He went up the Austrian hills - and later on together with my grandmother - in the early 1930's! So I obviously inherited some of his genes.

Gregor Mendel once said found out, how characteristics skip one generation and pop up in the next generation. Grandparents pass on a lot to the grandchildren. A a grain of that Protestant character made it to my genes. How else
could I explain my deep sympathy for all that 'Protestant' stands for?
The people, the cities, the provinces ... I can say I feel at home where
the Protestants live. Silly, I know.

Friends thought that it is the North that meets my character. My passion for Hamburg and so on.
The more I think about it, the more obvious it seems to me, that it's not about geography, but more about values and believes. The new Protestant Museum in Fresach, Carinthia is worthwhile a visit.

In case you want to visit Mr Sommerlatte's building in Vienna – you will find it here: